On the subject of work...

Around the end of December I blogged how relieved I was that the project I was working on was over, and how much of a release it had been to be over and done with.

Boy was I wrong. The worst was yet to come.

Okay, so I had lied a wee bit. The project wasn't over, that current phase was. And when I went back into work on the 2nd of January, there was a real butt-load of things still to be done on that project. It turned into an ugly equation when you add in the variables of a time constraint everyone on the dev team knew was far too short, an adamant client who would not let target dates flex, a terribly incomplete design spec and no research/prototyping time. Suffice it to say, this is only my fourth weekend that I have not spent focused on work, and this is only the second week I haven't worked overtime for the majority of the week.

It got to me near the end of January. I nearly snapped and had what you could call a "breakdown". I was frustrated on the smallest of tasks because it wasn't working out - but more likely frustrated at the situation as a whole. I had to take a breather in the bathroom, and was seriously considering just packing my things and heading out the door without intention of coming back. That would have been unwise, considering I'd be out of work and into another stressful situation, but things had gotten to the point I was almost willing to take the alternative.

I couldn't focus, and I took it to management. The gist of it was me asking quite frankly, "Do you see things improving here, or is it not worth me sticking around." Now my manager at that time had only been around a few months, but he's a generally good guy and I trust him. He answered, "It's a bad situation, but I understand where you're coming from." He assured me that if things didn't improve in a month, that he would help me find another job. How's that for management?

Breakdown aside, I survived to see things to the end at the sacrifice of pretty much my life during those months. Heh. The boss caught wind of my unhappiness too, and actually gave me a promotion with a substantial raise. It accompanied the stock "I appreciate all you've done for the business, and I've heard a lot of great things about you". Still, it locked me in, and convinced me to stay.

For the record, that same project is still lingering around the office, even though I've been moved to a different product development. It's like some kind of immortal zombie you just can't kill. I'm glad I'm not in the shoes of that poor support team. ^^